Bedlingtonalso called Bedlingtonshiretown, administrative unitary authority and historic county of Northumberland, Eng.England, adjacent to the North Sea port of Blyth. Its population grew rapidly with the expansion of coal mining north of the Blyth River in the 19th century. Ironworks flourished until the 1860s. Since World War II mining has ceased, but the local economy has been sustained by light industries. Bedlington gives its name to a breed of terrier dogs. Pop. (2001) 14,147.